


Say the Word and I'll Part the Sea

by Ella (yo_itsella)



Category: TwoSet, Twosetviolin, twoset violin
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Let's be honest these two swear a lot, M/M, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yo_itsella/pseuds/Ella
Summary: They don't use pet names or terms of endearment with each other -- until one of them does.
Relationships: Eddy Chen/Brett Yang
Comments: 13
Kudos: 132





	Say the Word and I'll Part the Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [一名一世界](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170180) by [asukaJude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asukaJude/pseuds/asukaJude)



_Dude_ and _bro_ have been part of Brett and Eddy's vocabulary since they were teenagers. They've called each other that far more often than their actual names for over a decade now -- with the occasional option of _asshole_ and _dickhead_ thrown in thanks to too many games of Smash Bros. -- and the dynamic is so ingrained that it's not unusual for people to meet them for the first time and express surprise that they're classical musicians.

Eddy finds this amusing. Whenever he asks why the responses are usually vague, but the general answer doesn't change much. 

"I don't know, you just don't _seem_ like it."

"You tell each other to fuck off so much, it's weird. I didn't expect that."

Or, as someone once eloquently pointed out, "You're just so _dudebro-y_."

That was Eddy's favorite. For some reason they're expected to be uptight and prudish and not enjoy video games or partying or skinny jeans with holes at the knees or swearing. He likes breaking stereotypes.

Even after they start dating, _dude_ and _bro_ stick around. A little less frequently and they use their names more often, but they're still present, whether they're hanging out with friends or gaming or dissolving into hysterical laughter while filming a video. It's a part of who they are and they don't see any need to change it.

It's pointed out to Eddy once, after they've been together for a few months. It _is_ odd when he thinks about it. Every other couple he's met uses some kind of pet name, or at the very least lets _baby_ pepper their conversations. Sometimes _honey_ or _darling_ or something similarly syrupy. But not _dude_ and certainly not _bro_.

It's even odder to think about calling each other anything else, though. Eddy's used the typical terms of endearment in previous relationships, had liked it even, but he can't imagine _baby_ or _darling_ ever coming out of his mouth to Brett. It feels _wrong_.

(He was tempted, once, by an urge to call him _sweetheart_. He chickened out. Maybe someday.)

Brett is not one for sappy language, romantic or otherwise. He's far more straightforward about it: if he likes you, he'll say so. If he wants to go on a date, he'll simply ask. If he loves you, he'll tell you that too - and he has no hang-ups about saying it first, or freely and endlessly after. Eddy is lucky to have personal experience in the matter.

So it's a surprise the first time Brett calls him _babe_.

It's so casual, too, like he doesn't even realize he's done it. It's an easy, "Can you hand me the cutting board, babe?" while they're in the kitchen trying to make a decent dinner for once rather than ordering takeout for the tenth day in a row.

Eddy passes it to him with a double-take, but Brett's too busy trying to find the right knife to chop vegetables to notice. Eddy's glad for it, because the word sends a sweet little thrill up his spine, and he instinctively knows that if he brings it up he might not hear it again.

He does hear it again, a week later.

Brett is playing through Gavotte when Eddy decides to interrupt his practice session with some interpretive dancing that's ridiculous even by his standards -- he probably should have stretched for this. Brett only makes it through a few bars before the laughter takes over, and his bow skids across the strings in little bounces that match the shaking of his shoulders.

"Babe, what are you _doing_?" And he's still laughing but the moment he says it there's a brief flash of panic in his eyes. And oh - _oh_.

Eddy doesn't miss a beat when he catches it, only falters slightly before continuing his dancing with even more gusto. "I'm collaborating. It's not my fault you don't understand art." He tosses his hair and makes an ill-advised attempt at a pirouette that sends his shoulder thudding into the nearby wall, but it works. Brett laughs again, and shoots him a grateful look while Eddy makes a show of grabbing at his injured arm.

After that, Brett calls him _babe_ constantly.

He only ever says it in private. But it begins replacing _dude_ and _bro_ with such frequency that he's certain Brett had been wanting to say it all along and was simply waiting for permission to do it. He adores hearing it. It has a way of floating on the timbre of his voice that remains the same no matter how he says it -- whether he's excited or amused or gasping it into his ear when they're wrapped around each other, desperate and breathless -- that Eddy relishes it every time.

He lets it slip once when they're filming. They cut it out of the footage before sending it to the editor. Some things are just for them.

(He doesn't say it when they play Smash Bros., sticking with _dude_ and _bro_ for the most part. _Motherfucker_ ranks a close third.)

And while he adores being called _babe_ , it's still not Eddy's favorite, because nothing can touch the way Brett says his name.

 _Eddy_ has never sounded the way it does coming from Brett's lips -- the sudden gentleness that comes over his voice, the softness across the consonants, the way his accent becomes looser on the last vowel. The word goes soft every time, like he doesn't know any other way to say it, quiet and intimate and as much of an _I love you_ as anything he's ever heard.

 _Babe_ is private. _Eddy_ belongs to Brett, and Brett alone.

*


End file.
